1. Plot

2. Cast

3. Production

4. Reception
     Box office    Critical reception  

5. Soundtrack

6. Awards
     National    International  

7. Further reading

8. References

9. External links

Bombay is a 1995 Indian Tamil-language Indian romantic drama film^[2] directed by Mani Ratnam, starring Arvind Swamy and Manisha Koirala in the lead, and featuring music composed by A. R. Rahman. The film tells the story of an inter-religious family in Bombay (now Mumbai) before and during the Bombay riots, which took place between December 1992 and January 1993 after the demolition of Babri Masjid led to religious tensions between Hindu and Muslim communities. It is the second in Ratnam's trilogy of films that depict human relationships against a background of Indian politics, including Roja (1992) and Dil Se.. (1998).^[1] The film was dubbed in Hindi, Telugu and Malayalam with the same title.

Eventually becoming one of the highest-grossing films of the Chennai film industry, the film was well-received both critically and commercially, and it was screened at many international film festivals including the Philadelphia Film Festival in 1996 where it was an audience favourite. The film's soundtrack sold 15 million units, becoming one of the best-selling soundtrack albums of all time. It earned composer A. R. Rahman his fourth consecutive Filmfare Best Music Director Award (Tamil), and is considered one of greatest soundtracks of all time.^[2] However, the film caused considerable controversy upon release in India and abroad for its depiction of inter-religious relations and religious riots. The film was banned in Singapore and Malaysia upon release.

In July 2005, a book on the film by Lalitha Gopalan was published by BFI Modern Classics, looking at the film's production, the several issues it covered, and its impact upon release in India and abroad.^[3][4] The film was ranked among the top 20 Indian films in the British Film Institute's rankings.^[5]

The soundtrack of the film was scored by Academy Award winner A. R. Rahman which is hailed as a masterpiece amongst his works.

Plot

Shekhar is the son of an orthodox Hindu Narayana Pillai living in a coastal village in Tamil Nadu. A journalism student studying in Bombay, Shekhar visits home to be with his family. On one of his return trips, he notices Shaila Banu, a Muslim schoolgirl in the village and loses his heart to her. Initially shy, Shaila seeks to distance herself from Shekhar, but after frequent run-ins, and days of pursuit, Shaila begins to like Shekhar. Eventually, they both fall in love.

Shekhar meets Shaila's father Basheer Ahmed and reveals he wants to marry her. Basheer throws him out, citing difference in religions. Shekhar reveals his interest to his father Pillai, who becomes angry, meets Basheer and gets into an abusive argument with him. Upset with rejection from both families, Shekhar leaves the village and returns to Bombay. Through Shaila's friend, he sends her a letter and a ticket for her to travel to Bombay. However, she is undecided; Basheer comes to know of her regular letters from Shekhar and plans to get her married immediately to stop this relation growing further. Left with no choice, Shaila leaves the village with the ticket sent by Shekhar and reaches Bombay. They get married and lead a happy life. Shaila conceives and delivers twins who are named Kabir Narayan and Kamal Basheer. The twins are raised in both religions. Shekhar continues to work as a journalist, while Shaila takes care of home and children. After six years, Shekhar and Shaila settle down in their life and begin the process of re-establishing a relationship with their respective families.

When the Babri Masjid is demolished by Hindu resurgents on 6 December 1992, riots break out in Bombay. Kabir and Kamal, who had gone to buy groceries, get caught in the riots; eventually, Shekhar and Shaila save them and reach home safely. Narayana Pillai, who receives the news of the riots, rushes to Bombay to meet his son and his family. Everyone is happy with his arrival, and he stays with them. Soon, Basheer also comes with his wife and all of them live together happily for a few days. Both Pillai and Basheer are happy with their grandchildren and wish to be with them.

On 5 January 1993, when two murders are interpreted as communal killings, another riot breaks up in Bombay, raising tensions between Hindu and Muslims and they clash in the streets. Hundreds of poor people belonging to both the religions die. The mansion where Shekhar stays with his family also gets burnt. When Shekhar evacuates everyone, Narayana Pillai, Basheer and his wife get caught in the fire accident and die. The children who run to save themselves get separated from their parents. Shekhar and Shaila begin to search for them and they go through several tense moments. Shekhar participates in the movement to stop the riots with other religious leaders (who realise the futility of the riots by then) and succeeds. When the riots stop, the children who were saved by people from different religions, also turn up and join their parents.

Cast

Credits adapted from Conversations with Mani Ratnam:{{sfn|Rangan|2012|p=292}}

• Arvind Swamy as Shekhar Narayanan Pillai
• Manisha Koirala as Shaila Banu
• Prakash Raj as Kumar
• Nassar as Narayanan Pillai
• Tinnu Anand as the Sakthi Samaj Head
• Kitty as Basheer
• Master Harsha (Sumeet) as Kabir Narayan
• Master Hridhay as Kamal Basheer

Additionally, Sonali Bendre and Nagendra Prasad appear in the item number "Humma Humma".^[6][7]

Production

When Ratnam approached cinematographer Rajiv Menon to shoot Bombay, he described it as a film about the riots and said that he (Menon) needed to "(make what came before) the riots as beautiful as possible". So, Menon suggested shooting in the rains to achieve the effect. They shot the interiors of homes in Pollachi in Tamil Nadu and the exteriors were shot in Kasargod, and Kannur village in Kerala, and the song sequence Uyire was shot at Bekal Fort.^[13][14] The demolition of the Babri Masjid was shown onscreen through newspaper headlines and photographs, as the makers did not want to show the actual destruction.{{Sfn|Rangan|2012|page=146}}

Reception

Bombay was released on 10 March 1995.^[15] The Telugu-dubbed version, Bombayi, was released on the same day.{{sfn|Chatterjee|Jeganathan|2005|p=158}}

Box office

The Hindi version of the film grossed {{INRConvert|140|m|year=1995}}, as reported by Box Office India, making it one of the year's top ten highest-grossing Hindi films.^[16]

Critical reception

Soundtrack

Awards

The film has won the following awards since its release:

National

1996

//National Film Awards">National Film Awards

• Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration – Mani Ratnam
• Best Editing – Suresh Urs

1996

//Filmfare Awards">Filmfare Awards

• Best Film (Critics) – S. Sriram
• Best Performer (Critics) – Manisha Koirala

1996

//Filmfare Awards South">Filmfare Awards South

• Best Film – Tamil – S. Sriram, Mani Ratnam
• Best Director – Tamil – Mani Ratnam
• Best Actress – Tamil – Manisha Koirala
• Best Music Director – Tamil – A. R. Rahman

1996

//Matri Shree Media Award">Matri Shree Media Award

• Best Film – Mani Ratnam^[21]

1995

//Tamil Nadu State Film Awards">Tamil Nadu State Film Awards

• Best Lyricist – Vairamuthu
• Best Female Playback – K. S. Chitra

1996 CineGoer's Award

• Best Music (Tamil) – A. R. Rahman

1996 Film Fans' Award

• Best Music (Tamil) – A. R. Rahman

1996 Kalasaagar Award

• Best Music (Tamil) – A. R. Rahman

International

1995

//Edinburgh International Film Festival">Edinburgh International Film Festival (Scotland)

• Gala Award – Bombay – Mani Ratnam

1996

//Political Film Society Awards">Political Film Society Awards (United States)^[22]

• Special Award – Bombay – Mani Ratnam

2003

//Jerusalem Film Festival">Jerusalem Film Festival (Israel)

• Wim Van Leer in Spirit for Freedom Award – Best Feature – Bombay – Mani Ratnam

Further reading

• {{cite book|url=https://books.google.co.in/books?id=Y9GXrgrkXIIC&dq=Kamal+Basheer+Kabir+Narayan+Bombay&source=gbs_navlinks_s|title=Community, Gender and Violence|last=Chatterjee|first=Partha|last2=Jeganathan|first2=Pradeep|publisher=Permanent Black |year=2005| origyear=2000 | isbn=81-7824-033-5|location=|pages=|ref=harv}}
• {{cite book | last = Gopalan | first = Lalitha | title = Bombay: BFI Film Classics | publisher = BFI Publishing| year = 2005 | location = London | isbn = 978-0-85170-956-7}}
• {{cite book |title=Conversations with Mani Ratnam|publisher=Penguin Books |location=India|first=Baradwaj|last=Rangan|authorlink=Baradwaj Rangan|year=2012|isbn=978-0-670-08520-0|ref=harv}}

References

External links

• {{IMDb title|id=0112553|title=Bombay}}

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